Dirt Track Star Turning Into Real Road Runner

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Many 16-year-olds find selecting a career path an increasingly important part of their lives. SunTrust MOTO-ST Series racer James Rispoli is in the same situation, although his options are a little different from those of most kids his age – road racing or dirt track.

Already a rising star on the dirt track racing scene in the U.S., Rispoli has now discovered the joys of road racing, and has already shown potential in that area of the sport as well. The Attica, N.Y. resident along with teammate Ted Cobb rode the Cycle Dynamics Kawasaki EX650 to first place in the Sport Twins class of the SunTrust MOTO-ST Series season opener at Daytona International Speedway March 2 and the duo are looking to do it again April 25-27 at Virginia International Raceway.

A New Hampshire native, Rispoli got his start in dirt track racing at the age of 6. His dad is close friends with Bruce Lyskawa, a former racer whose Bruce Transportation Group Team has a history of launching the careers of some of America’s brightest racing talent. Lyskawa’s son Brent, also 16, races and remains close friends with Rispoli.

While Rispoli found himself moving up the amateur ranks in dirt track racing, he also longed to emulate one of his great heroes, seven-time Grand Prix road race World Champion Valentino Rossi.

After making a successful debut as a Novice in the WERA road racing series in 2006, Rispoli was moved up to the Expert ranks last season. Riding a Suzuki GSX-R600 he slowly worked his way up to speed, and ended the season with a third place finish in B Superbike Expert at the Grand National Finals.

“When I started on the 600 I was getting a little tense,” he recalls. “It was only the last couple of races that I really hit it, and then I won my first race at the end of the year at Summit Point.”

Just before the Grand National Finals Rispoli attended the Kevin Schwantz Suzuki School, a performance riding school run out of the Road Atlanta race track by former World Champion Schwantz. While there Rispoli struck up a rapport with Cobb, an instructor at the school.

Cobb’s association with Cycle Dynamics team owner Charlie Benton led to an opportunity for Rispoli to ride the team’s Kawasaki with Peyton and Brett Sassaman in last October’s SunTrust MOTO-ST Series season finale at Daytona. The bike retired just a couple of hours into the race, but Rispoli was invited back to the team for this year’s season opener.

The Daytona weekend was an emotional one for Rispoli and the team, as his mother Loretta died just a couple of weeks before the event. Rispoli started the three-hour race on the Cycle Dynamics Kawasaki, but struggled in the early going and was brought in to hand over the bike to Cobb.

“I was thinking way too much,” Rispoli explains. “I don’t think I had my game fully on. But Ted got on there and he kept it together for us. If it wasn’t for him I don’t know what would have happened. He was really fast. It was a very emotional victory.”

Once Rispoli got back aboard the Cycle Dynamics bike he enjoyed a tough fight with the defending Sport Twins champion, the No. 9 Pair-A-Nines Kawasaki shared by Jimmy Filice and Jay Springsteen. Rispoli got a particular thrill out of battling with Springsteen, a veteran dirt track superstar who has also excelled in road racing.

“That was awesome,” Rispoli says. “He’s a big dirt track hero of mine. I wasn’t giving him anything and he wasn’t giving me anything. I had a great time.”

Rispoli says his dirt track experience has proved invaluable to his education as a road racer.

“Dirt track teaches you how to adapt to different situations,” he explains. “If the tire starts to go off you can adapt to it, you have a better chance to ride around it. Anything can happen and you’re prepared for it.”

He also says his time at the Kevin Schwantz school also played a big role in his development as a road racer.

“The two main things I learned about were body position and throttle control,” he says. “One of my problems was that, in the corners, I was really aggressive with the throttle and I needed to smooth it out and relax.”

But just because Rispoli has been honing his road racing skills doesn’t mean he’s letting the dirt track racing take a back seat. Far from it. While he was racing the Cycle Dynamics Kawasaki in the SunTrust MOTO-ST Series season opener in March, he was also scooting off to nearby Volusia County Speedway for the traditional Bike Week dirt track races.

“I did well in all the dirt track stuff,” he reports, “and I’m so glad I did it again. I won every race I entered.”

Unfortunately his week was cut short when his foot got caught in a pothole on the Volusia track and he suffered a hairline fracture on his ankle.

So, which career path is it for Rispoli? Dirt track or road racing? Right now it’s a little of both. Rispoli intends to continue racing dirt track this year in the Pro Sport division, working his way up to an Expert license. He would ultimately like to reach the pinnacle of the sport, the AMA Grand National Dirt Track Championship, and square off against another of his heroes, seven-time Grand National champion Chris Carr.

“I want to ride against Chris Carr at least once,” Rispoli says. “I’ve been to his American Supercamp, and every time you go you learn something new.”

He’d also like to move into the pro ranks of AMA road racing, perhaps running in the Supersport class.

The options are still wide open for Rispoli, but as long as he continues to excel in both the dirt track and road race arenas picking a career path is going to get tougher and tougher.

The SunTrust MOTO-ST Series is organized and sanctioned by Professional Motorsports Productions (PMP) of Toronto, Ontario, Canada and the Grand American Road Racing Association (Grand-Am), based in Daytona Beach, Fla., provides the series with administrative and commercial support. Learn more about MOTO-ST at www.moto-st.com.

from Moto-ST press